Clinical Section

Mortality in Relation to Urinary Characteristics in the Very Aged
P. Heinämäki, M. Haavisto, T. Hakulinen, K. Mattila, S. Rajala

Department of Geriatric Medicine, City Hospital of Tampere; Finnish Cancer Registry, Helsinki; Department of Public Health, University of Tampere, Finland

Address of Corresponding Author

Gerontology 1986;32:167-171 (DOI: 10.1159/000212784)

  Key Words

• Bacteriuria
• Pyuria
• Albuminuria
• Hematuria
• Survival
• Mortality

  Abstract

The value of urinary characteristics observed in a health survey of people aged 85 years or more was studied in a 5-year follow-up. Of the 561 aged people participating in the initial survey, 167 (30%) were alive after 5 years. Hematuria, pyuria, and albuminuria were associated with high mortality; urinary acidity was associated with low mortality. Positive bacterial staining, glucosuria, and specific gravity of urine were not related to the survival rate. Contrary to earlier observations, bacteriuria found in the urinary bacterial culture did not have any prognostic significance in respect of survival during the follow-up period.Judging from the results, the medical treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria, with the aim of reducing the mortality of the very aged, appears to be unwarranted.

Copyright © 1986 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

P. Heinämäki, MD, Department of Public Health, University of Tampere, Box 607, SF-33101 Tampere 10 (Finland)

  Article Information

Received: May 13, 1985
Accepted: December 2, 1985
Published online: April 15, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 5